Saturday, February 21, 2015

Blessings from our home to yours!We made it back to Nyankunde at long
last.We were able to spend a week with
Warren’s folks in Basel, Switzerland, on our return to the US.A wonderful time was had by all!Emmanuel loved finally meeting his
grandparents.Our little boy has been so
loved by everyone he meets!We
experienced the European life of riding train and trams.It was a challenge carrying all our luggage and
Emmanuel in a backpack but somehow we did it.We are really blessed with a baby that travels well and loves meeting new people.It was great to visit Basel
Christian Fellowship where we have several friends and supporters.We are blessed by their prayers and interest
in our lives.

Love those Swiss fairytales

We spent a day in Istanbul, Turkey, on the way back to
Congo.We toured some of the historical
sites such as the Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern, and the Hippodrome.This is a very interesting historical place
because of its’ location between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean-at the
junction between Europe and Asia.Istanbul was the capital of two major empires-both the Ottoman and Roman
empires.We enjoyed wandering around the
city a bit and eating shwarmas. Emmanuel charmed all the airplane stewards on Turkish Airlines and even got a free teddy bear. Sometimes it felt like we were invisible while traveling...it was as if we didn't exist at airport counters when people just wanted pinch the cheeks of our little boy or take his picture. I guess he is pretty cute.

Always looking up

We are adjusting to life again here.I have been teasing Warren that the last two
months have been like a paternity leave. He comes back to long lines of
patients for consultation each day and a full surgical load.Emmanuel loves the warmth, bathing outside,
and taking a nap in his diaper.He also
loves playing with his new puppy Cocoa, a 9-week old boerboel.Cocoa has a very sweet demeanor and is
getting plenty of exposure to children.I
have been working with a Congolese nanny who will be caring for Emmanuel in the
mornings when I go back to work next week.Living the rural life is more involved and requires making your own baby
food, cooking from scratch, gardening, and getting some goods into the
country.I am looking forward to
returning to the hospital part-time.It
has been a wonderful 6-month maternity leave.I have been so fortunate to have spent this time with our son.I am thankful that I can work part-time
and still spend a lot of the day with him.

Rainy season is approaching which everyone looks forward
to with anticipation.This means it is
time to plant for the next season.In
our recent newsletter we reflected on the hidden action of God, being like
planting a seed in the ground.These
analogies make so much more sense now because we try to grow our own food.

Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who
scatters seed on the ground.Night and
day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not
understand how it happens.The earth
produces crops on his own.First a leaf
blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain
ripens.And as soon as the grain is
ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has
come.”Mark 4: 26-29.

The plants that
become our food start out as tiny seeds and grow into seedlings. Growth
requires

many factors such as good soil, water, protection and sunlight.
It also requires time. Gardening is difficult for the impatient person.
We have planted corn, beans, cabbage, onions, tomatoes, greens, melons,
carrots, peanuts, etc. We love to see those little shoots push up out of
the ground, but it takes SOOOO LONG before you actually have something you can
eat. For trees, it's even worse! We have planted coffee, oranges, lemons,
papaya, bananas and even pomegranate trees. We look forward to the day
when we will enjoy these fruits, but it won't be any time soon. It takes
patience. You need to forget about things a bit and trust the process.
Thomas Merton put it this way. "How does an apple ripen? It just
sits in the sun. A small green apple can't ripen in one night...We must
wait for God, we must be awake, we must trust in his hidden action within
us."

This is our
prayer for all of you, that you would be like an apple in the sun, waiting on
God and His purposes for your life.May
you recognize His blessings all around you and recognize that He has done great
things.

Prayer Requests:

-For Lindsey as
she resumes hospital work in the pediatric wards and for Emmanuel to enjoy his
new nanny.

-For us to
treasure each day God gives us and find joy in our medical work.

-For the
outpatient malnutrition program and a source of supplemental food for the
children.

-For spiritual
vision at Nyankunde Hospital and for our patients to hear the Gospel clearly
with open hearts.